PSYCHOLOGY BUSKING a la wordswords is meant for those interested in Buskology -- the study of human behavior while busking with a guitar and harmonica or a didgeridoo or a pencil and sketchbook!

Sunday, December 1, 2013

BUSTED: AN INTROSPECTION OF A BUSKER'S SEVEN DEADLY SINS

This week a music student sat on my guitar, my twelve-string
Simon & Patrick.The soundboard, the
rosette, the bridge and the saddle … all BUSTED!And this got me to thinking … about myself …
about my foibles … my sins so to speak.

The SEVEN DEADLY SINS (pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed,
gluttony, and lust) were a Christian classification of vices that was especially popular
during the 14th Century.(I
remind the reader that Chaucer, for whom my weekly CHAUCERIAN PARADE is named after,
died in 1400.)

PRIDE is thought to be the original and the most severe
transgressions of the seven deadly. Essentially,
PRIDE is the belief that you are essentially better than others.This, for me is true, to a point, especially
when I’m compelled to work in a group.

I’ve been a swimming instructor and a scuba diver.I still love to downhill ski in the mountains.I’ve run a few marathons and dozens of
half-marathons.I’ve had magazine
articles published (on scuba diving and downhill skiing), and two books
published, one fiction, and one non-fiction.I’ve a Master’s Degree.I teach
at the university.I am tall, dark, and
handsome.

I could go on … but I won’t.

ENVY is to feel jealousy toward someone’s traits, abilities,
and rewards.I know there is always
someone better looking than I; there is always someone better talented than I;
and there is always someone making better coin than I.

Am I envious of these others?Yes I am. I used to be jealous of the hockey
skills of my brother-in-law, Larry Hornung, who played in the NHL (NATIONAL
HOCKEY LEAGUE), and those of my friend and line mate, Larry Hopfner, who played
in the NHL (NOTEKEU HOCKEY LEAGUE). I am
now jealous of the guitar skills of my new band mate, Darren of PHANTOM TIDE,
who is a guitar virtuoso and a GUITAR LUTHIER!

WRATH is to express feelings of rage and anger.I’ve got this one under control.Even when that G^##&*%
bull-in-a-China-shop student sat on my Simon & Patrick, I had this one under
control.

SLOTH is usually defined as physical laziness.This is NOT me.And like the sin previous, I’ve got this one
under control.I’m up at five o’clock
every morning reading blogs; I’m in the weight room around six o’clock; I’m in
my counseling office before 8:30.Every
Monday evening I teach at the university; every Thursday evening I gig with the
GRAND TRUNK TROUBADOURS (a community service band). On every sunny summer day I go busking (for a cause).

GREED is the pursuit of material possessions, money included.I will admit that I like nice things.I like my upscale downtown apartment.I like my Acura ILX.I like to buy expensive white shirts, long-sleeved with collars. I like to buy expensive black shirts, cowboy gothics.I’d like to purchase a $600 SEAGULL
twelve-string guitar. I am greedy and I know it … clap your hands.

GLUTTONY is the over-indulgence and over-consumption,
excessive desire for food.This is NOT
me, save for JALEPENO & CHEDDER NACHOS or RED LICORICE or VANILLA ICE CREAM
or THAI food or ITALIAN SANDWICHES or AMERICANO
COFFEE (decaf).

(Attempting to suppress, so far, six deadly sins, I shall
remind myself of the EGO DEPLETION THEORY.The EGO DEPLETION THEORY is the suggestion that self-control (willpower)
is drawn from a limited oasis of mental resources, and when one has drunk the
oasis dry, one’s self-control will, too, be drained.The EGO DEPLETION THEORY suggests that the harder we work to suppress
our desires, the less likely we will succeed at suppressing further desires. In other words, the energy it takes to refrain
from one deadly sin makes it more likely to succumb to the next deadly sin,
and the energy exerted to refrain from that deadly sin makes it more likely to succumb to the next … and so on down the line. Resisting
temptation after temptation after temptation proves difficult and, therefore according to the EGO DEPLETION THEORY, the
next deadly sin, LUST, should be tough to resist.)

LUST is the intense desire for amours. Yes, dear readers, by
the time I’ve resisted the previous six sins (to a point), LUST
will be the ultimate test.

According to song-and-dance Parisian, Maurice
Chevalier, I should never lust over someone under half my age plus 7 … but really …
what does Maury know?

Should I ever succumb I would want someone zaftig. I would want someone juicy, luscious, and
voluptuous.I would want a bomb girl, a
bomb girl who is chary.

According to DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, such thoughts are not
unhealthy, as long as these thoughts are not in excess.

According to SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, acting on such thoughts will no doubt
create a difficult social scenario.

According to 14th Century Christians, we all have our inner angels and demons guiding our conscience.

According to EGO DEPLETION, the more times we follow the
bidding of our inner angels, the more tempting it is to follow the bidding of
our inner demons.

Alas … re-reading this introspective essay of my sinning reveals
that I am delusional. In reality I am but an aged,
addlepated busker ...

and there is nothing wrong with that!

To close, I've but one person marching in my CHAUCERIAN PARADE this week. My son, Travers, has just returned from Kabul, Afghanistan, where he'd been studying the effects of war these past thirty days.

About Me

I imagine myself to be a real cowboy. I've roots in Clay County,
Missouri (next to Jesse James); I've been shot off a horse while
crossing Notekeu Creek; I've ridden across 27 sections of Turkey Track
Ranch to meet a girl at a rodeo in Herbert, Saskatchewan.
I imagine myself to be a scholar. I've a Master's Degree in Educational
Psychology; I've a private HYPNOTHERAPY and PSYCHOLOGY CONSULTING
practice in downtown Regina SK
(PHONE 306-591-7131);
I'm a part-time university Psychology instructor and full-time high
school guidance counsellor.
In a line ... I'm an Americana fair-weather faux busker and a
self-proclaimed certified ... Buskologist!